William h



\No Model.)

W. H. GAILOR.

THILL COUPLING.

Patented Feb. 18,1890.

l fr? verzin/f.' b/s/ 9% QI' @dc @L @faQ/wee* NITED @STATES ATENTOFFICE.

VILLIAM H. GAILOR, OF SARATOGA SPRI GS, NEV YORK, ASSIGN OR OF ONE-HALFTO EDGAR T. BRAOKETT, OF SAME PLACE.

THlLL-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 421,565, dated February18, 1890.

Application filed December 23, 1889. Serial No. 334,742. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern/.-

Beit known that I, WILLIAM H. GALoR, a citizen of the United States,residing at Saratoga Springs, in the county of Saratoga and State of NewYork, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Connectingthe Thills or Shafts of Vehicles to their Axles; and I do hereby declarethe following to be a full, clear, and exact description of theinvention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same.

The main object of my invention is to provide improved means forconnecting thills and poles of vehicles to their axle shackles or clips,whereby wear in the eye of the thill or pole iron, as well as the wearupon the connectingbolt of the thill or pole iron, may be compensatedfor, and all rattling due to such wear obviated, while the parts may bereadily tightened up and securely held against casual displacement.

In the drawings, Figure 1 shows a chill-iron or goose-neck of avehiclethill or shaft partly in plan view and partly in horizontal centralsection, this view showing the thill-iron detached from the clip, theconnecting-bolt in place in the lugs or ears of the clip, with abevel-end hollow screw-plug in plaoelupon the body portion of theconnecting-bolt. Fig. 2 indicates in plan view a portion of avehicleaxle having a clip or shackle applied in the ordinary manner, andwith the clip-lugs, the thill-iron, the hollow screw-threaded plug, andconvex vcheck-nut in section, as shown in Fig. 1, and with the severalparts adj usted to their full extent in working position.

In the drawings, A indicates the axle with the clip B applied thereto inthe ordinary manner, the view Fig. 1 showing the lugs o c partly insection.

O indicates the thill-iron or goose-neck of the thills of a vehicle,having a bolt-eye cl throughits connecting` endl and beveled inwardly,as` at d cl2, in order to afford a fric tional seat for the beveledportion of the connectin g-bolt D and the hollow screwthreaded plug Fwhen the same are in working action7 as shown in Fig. 2. j

D clearly represents the connectingbolt of the clip and the thill-iron.Its head is made square, and beneath its annular flange e it is providedwith a male screw, as e', to fit into a female screw e2 in the bolt-eyef of the lug c when said bolt is in position, as shown. The male screwe', as shown, terminates in a bevel portion g, and from such bevelportion the body g of the bolt is much reduced in diameter, and at itsinner end is made screwthreaded, as at e3, in order to have a convexcheck-nut, as E, screwed thereon, as represented in Fig. 2, for holdingthe parts in their adjusted position.

F is a hollow screwthreaded plug provided with a square head and with anannular concavity, as d3, cut therein' to form a broad friction-bevel d4of the checknutE when screwed up into place, asin Fig. 2. The bodyportion g2 of the plug is screw-threaded, as shown, in order to screwinto an eye f through the lug c', said eye being properly screw-threadedto receive said body portion g2, while at its inner end it is beveled,as at g3, in order to seat itself in the head cl2 of the lthill-iron Owhen said'iron is connected with the lugs c c of the clip B,'as shown inFig. 2. It will thus be seen that when the connectingbolt l) is inworking position, as shown in Fig. 2, its bevel -portion g is made toenter the eye-bevel CZ of the chill-iron C, while at the same time thebevel g3 of the screw-plug F is made to enter and more or less seatitself with a frictionalv impact in the eye-bevel cl2 of the thill-iron.Thus connected, as in Fig. 2, it will also be seen that by screwing upthe bolt D its screw e', in conjunction with screw-thread e2 of lug c,is made to force its bevel g into the eye-bevel d of the thill-iron C,while by screwing up the hollow screw-plug F its screw-thread will drawupon thescrew-threads of the lug c',- thereby forcing its bevel gsintothe eye-bevel cl2 of said thill-iron, thus more or less, as the case maybe, clamping the thill-iron tightly between the lugs o c of the clip B,and in which adjusted position said parts are held from casualdisplacement by the check-nut E. In this manner the wear of the parts asheretofore mentioned is compensated for and rattling prevented, and atthe same time a very eifective and durable thill-coupling produced, theseveral parts being held in adjusted position against casualdisplacement by the large IOO impact bevel area of the convex check-nutE and the concave seat cl3 ot' the hollow screwplug F, through whichplug the body g of the holt D is passed free from contact therewith; andit will also-be seen that when the adjustment of the bolt D and theserew-plug F is such as to allow the eye d of the thill-iron C to comein contact with and draw upon the body g of said bolt while the couplingis being drawn upon by the team such draft will, when the convexcheck-nut E is screwed up into its concave seat d3, cause the body g ofthe bolt D to press a portion of the convex surface of the nut E againsta corresponding portion of its concave seat cl3, and thus secure thecheckenut from becoming loose, such action of the draft of the teanibein g permitted by the freedom of the body g of the bolt D from contactwith the screw-plug F. In this manner I secure a given adjustment of allthe several parts of the thill-coupling by the use of only onecheck-nut, and at the saine time hold the check-nut to its work bythedraft of the team.

That I claim isl. The thill-coupling comprising in combination acoupling-bolt D, having a screwthreaded enlarged portion e', and abeveled portion g between its body and enlarged portion, and also ascrew-threaded inner end, a screw-threaded plug F, having a beveledinner end g3 and an outer end concave seat d3, a nut E, a clip-iron B,having screwthreaded lugs c c', and a thill-iron C, having bevel seats dd2 at the ends oi' its bolt-eye, substantially as described.

2. The thill-coupling provided with an adj ustable hollow screw-threadedwear-compensatin g plug screwed into the inner lug or ear of the iron,and a bolt provided with a wearcompensation screw threaded enlargementportion which is adjustable with the bolt and is screwed into the outerlug orearof the clipplate or fastening-iron, said bolt also havingmainly a plain body portion g of smaller diameter than the saidenlargement portion, which is extended loosely through the hollowwear-compensation plug F, and secured by a single nut, as E, which actsto check the hollow screw-plug F and the bolt D from turning,substantially as described.

3. A thill-coupling which comprises the fol lowing elements, to wit: aclip B, a thill-iron C, a bolt D, havin gits body portion g passedloosely through the eye of the thill-iron C and also through ascrew-plug F, and with the outer end of its body g screw-threaded toreceive thereon a check-nut E, a screw-plug F, constructed with aconcave seat, as d, and a check-nut E, constructed with a conical innerend to tit into the seat di of the screw-plug F when the parts are inworking condition, whereby the draft of the team on the bolt D willserve to lock the check-nut E in its adjusted position, substantially asdescribed.

In testimony whereof I hereunto a'fiix my signature in presence of twowitnesses.

WILLIAM H. GAILOR. lVitnesses:

WALTER P. BUTLER, WINsoR B. FRENCH.

